Indian drug companies brace for China impact

A growing number of key starting materials (KSMs) and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) coming into India have become 25% to 35% more expensive as reports of Covid infections spiral out of control in China, squeezing margins and increasing drug prices. The Indian government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical KSMs, drug intermediates (DIs) and APIs is soon set to come to the aid of many domestic players, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

Several key antibiotic APIs and KSMs, such as clavulanic, amoxicillin and metronidazole, continue to experience upward pressure across the segments of antibiotics, anti-infectives, neurology, cardiac and diabetes.

According to Sudarshan Jain, president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association, the Covid outbreak in China is a cause for concern, and pharmaceutical companies are closely monitoring the supply chain and inventories of medicines.